Thomson Learning, currently a division of the Thomson Corporation has announced that it will be partnering with the Sakai, an open source learning organisation. The deal will see the Sakai open source collaboration and learning environment integrated by Thomson Learning. By supporting the foundation and becoming a commercial affiliate the Sakai Foundation can expect a series of software investments and support for the needs of the higher education learning in an online framework; writes Daniel Griffin.

The Sakai foundation is a collaborative online community, which works towards the support of online learning, teaching and research. The free service is an open source product and is also maintained and developed by its community of users.

“Thomson Learning is truly breaking new ground in its industry. The company’s commitment to making significant software investments in the open source community is the first in the publishing industry” said Chuck Severance, Sakai Foundation Executive Director.

Even though the Thomson Corporations’ Learning division is currently up for sale, that hasn’t prevented it from taking the move to plant its flag in the sand and show open support for open source in education. Severance said; “We hope that all members of the higher education learning environment recognise the benefits of adopting open source and contributing to the greater good of the community and follow Thomson Learning’s commitment.”